A visit to the GP for a check-up is, for some, about as pleasant an experience as having a tooth pulled. Just walking through the door of the surgery is enough to bring some out in a sweat.

‘The potential embarrassment, the fact it’s time-consuming — you may need to take a morning off work — even the worry of there being a real problem, all of these factors can lead to people not visiting the doctor when they should,’ says Dr. Helen Stokes-Lampard from the UK Royal College of General Practitioners.

But there are a number of health tests that you can do yourself — free — in the comfort and privacy of your own home.
These range from DIY eye checks to checking your lungs, hormones and the efficiency of your gut.
‘While DIY tests should never replace going to the GP, they can help you take responsibility for your own health,’ says Dr Stokes-Lampard. ‘But do remember that there are some things you can’t test for at home — bone conditions such as osteoporosis, for instance.’

Also don’t forget that some conditions are asymptomatic — meaning there really are no symptoms until the condition is established, such as liver disease.

Below, experts explain the home health tests you can do for various parts of the body, and the conditions they may point to.

Do the limbo to test your back

Four out of five of us will suffer back pain in our lives — and in up to half of cases, this could be as a result of facet joint arthritis, says Mushtaque Ishaque, a consultant spinal surgeon at the Royal Orthopaedic Hospital, Birmingham.
Facet joints, which are on either side of the spine, link each vertebra to the next.

The condition, more common in those over 50, generally affects the lower back, which takes most of the load. It occurs as a result of normal wear and tear as the connective tissue covering the facet joints wears away.

“To test for this, stand up straight, then lean backwards from the waist as far as you can — as if doing the limbo. This will exacerbate any bone-on-bone contact and cause pain,” says Mr Ishaque.

Other symptoms can include stiffness in the back when you get up in the morning, improving as the day progresses, and difficulty getting up from a chair.

Treatment would include an MRI scan to confirm diagnosis, then possibly steroid injections to reduce inflammation and physiotherapy.

In worst-case scenarios, surgery may also be necessary.

 Eat sweetcorn  to test your gut 

A delay in food being processed in the gut can indicate a whole host of conditions including irritable bowel syndrome and gastroenteritis (stomach flu) — or, very rarely, tumours such as colorectal cancer.

“To get an idea of your bowel transit time, eat some sweetcorn, as the body can’t digest the yellow outer shell of the kernels,” says Anton Emmanuel, consultant gastroenterologist at University College Hospital, London.

“Then measure the time in between eating the corn and noticing it in your stools.” A transit time from 24 to 48 hours is normal — anything more than 72 hours is considered slow.

“Generally, it’s nothing to worry about — times can be affected by many things other than illness, such as dehydration and even painkillers,” says Dr. Emmanuel. ‘But if you’re worried and have other symptoms such as bleeding, weight loss or severe pain, visit your GP.’

A transit time faster than 24 to 48 hours need not raise concerns.

Take the stairs to test your lungs

The simplest way to gauge the health of your lungs is to walk briskly for two minutes while chatting to a friend — or call a friend on a mobile phone and talk to them while you’re walking up and down the stairs, says Professor Stephen Spiro, vice-chairman of the British Lung Foundation.

‘If you find yourself breathless — meaning your breathing becomes fast or uncomfortable — or wheezing, you need to go to see  the GP.’  Exercise forces the lungs to work harder, requiring deeper and faster breathing, because the body requires more oxygen during this time.

Use a piece of paper to test your hormones

Trembling or shaky hands can be a sign of an overactive thyroid gland or hyperthyroidism — particularly if you’re a woman (who are ten times more likely than men to have an over-active thyroid) and aged between 20 and 40.
The gland produces too much thyroxine — thyroid hormone — causing all the body’s functions to go into hyperdrive, leading to a racing pulse and twitchy muscles, as well as possibly unexplained weight loss, anxiety, mood swings and difficulty in sleeping.
“To test for this, stretch out your hand, palm down, and place an A4 piece of paper on top of it,” says Richard Ross, professor of endocrinology at the University of Sheffield. ‘A visible wobbling of the paper could point to hyperthyroidism.’ Fortunately, after diagnosis with a blood test of an over-active thyroid, medication can stop your gland producing excess thyroxine.

Tap your ankle to test your thyroid

‘Hypothyroidism, when the body isn’t producing enough thyroxine, slows the metabolism, including reflexes,’ says Pierre-Marc Bouloux, professor of endocrinology at the Royal Free Hampstead NHS Trust, North-West London.
One way to check for this condition, which affects 15 in 1,000 women (usually over the age of 50), and one in 1,000 men, is the ankle-jerk reflex.

Cross one leg over the other, so the calf is resting on the opposite knee. Extend the foot slightly and look for the Achilles tendon — this is the thick, springy tissue just above the heel.

Sharply tap it with a spoon. ‘The ankle usually reflexes immediately — but if there’s a delayed response or the foot returns to the first position slowly, you may have hypo- thyroidism,’ says Professor Bouloux.

(Courtesy Daily Mail)

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